Eagles' offensive line making strides

PHILADELPHIA — It’s not a coincidence the quarterbacks and the offensive line are playing well at the same time.

Typically quarterbacks are as good as the line. Rewind to Michael Vick’s best passing season and the Eagles sent tackle Jason Peters to the Pro Bowl and had two other guys receive enough votes to almost make the trip to Honolulu as alternates.

Vick’s new-found comfort level and Nick Foles’ promise in an offense that on paper doesn’t really suit him are a tribute to the big guys.

“I think the guys up front are battling,” Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Sunday. “The good news is we haven’t talked about a rookie right tackle much. Usually when you don’t talk about the linemen, it’s a good thing.

“Jason hasn’t played but we have some young guys in there that are getting, I mean, reps that are invaluable for them. Allen Barbre, he played left tackle for us and some of the other young guys that are in there playing have done an outstanding job. I think that group’s coming along well.”

The right tackle is Lane Johnson, who the Eagles selected with the fourth overall pick in the draft. Beyond one very ugly sack allowed, he’s played beyond smart for a rookie.

In the second preseason game the 6-6, 303-pound Johnson had no one to block because the Panthers performed a line stunt. When a corner tried to burst around the edge on a delayed blitz, Johnson hooked him into the pile of bodies in the middle of the field.

“Lane’s a lot of fun to play next to,” veteran Eagles guard Todd Herremans said. “He’s got some grit to him. He’s athletic as hell. And he’s adaptive. He wants to learn. It’s kind of interesting. He played quarterback (in high school) so he kind of understands defenses, secondary rotation and stuff like that. I think that kind of helps him.”

Peters practiced for the second straight day Sunday after sitting out two weeks with a strained hamstring. Allen Barbre (6-4, 305) not only started at left tackle, but, coupled with the back injury to Dennis Kelly, has all but won a spot on the roster.

During his Oregon days, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was familiar with Barbre, who the Seattle Seahawks cut last season after the NFL suspended him the first four games for using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) per reports.

“I took something pre-workout that I wasn’t aware had something in it,” Barbre said. “And I got a suspension for that.

“I’ve had some ups and downs. My career hasn’t been perfect. Not everything I wanted it to be. I’ve been working hard and trying to stay focused. Working hard on what I can do to get better every day.”

It’s not happenstance the offensive line is better with Jason Kelce back in the lineup at center following knee surgery. Though Dallas Reynolds did a decent job as a backup last season, the pivot comes naturally to Kelce, who seems to get the guys around him to play a little better.

Chip Kelly’s training methods and up-tempo offense also have been factors in the success of the offensive line. The players are in better shape. And the opposition isn’t.

It was obvious during the victory over the Panthers.

“Absolutely can see the defense get tired,” Kelce said. “You see the hands on the hip. You see them sucking for air. That’s noticeable out there and that’s a good feeling when you’re an offensive lineman. Even though you’re sucking for air, it’s usually a little harder on them.”

Typically there’s not a lot of substituting done by the defense either, and that’s a factor.

“It kind of makes the defense have to play pretty basic stuff,” Herremans said. “And then they can’t change too much. So you’re going to see what you saw the play before. But yeah, they’re tired. We’re tired. Everybody is tired. We just know what we’re doing.”

Right now, from the quarterbacks to the offensive line, faster is better for the Eagles.